2015 Fantasy Baseball Rankings & ProjectionsRelief Pitchers #21 - #25

I picked up Rondon in a bunch of leagues last year before he was named the Cub's Closer because, well, I can see the future. Hector will have to prove himself to new Manager Joe Maddon this year but that should be no problem as he's fully capable of holding the Closing role all season long. Rondon posted a 8.95 K/9 rate, 4.20 K/BB rate and only allowed two home runs in 63.1 innings in 2014. Rondon is another Closer I'll target this year as he falls right in the cheap group of Closers with relatively high upside.

Benoit, another trade target, could be dealt to a contender to become a setup man like he was in Detroit, Tampa Bay and Texas for all of those years. Joaquin is a strong control guy with the ability to post 70+ strikeouts any given year. The Padres are known for dealing Closers (Huston Street last year) and other Pitchers while they're in the middle of this decade-long rebuilding process. Benoit is probably next in line as he's owed $8 million in 2015 with a $8 million vesting option in 2016 ($1.5 million buyout clause).

I'm steering clear of Nathan this year especially after last season's blowup. Nathan is 40 years old and coming off a season in which he blew a career high seven saves.

Joe has been a great Closer his entire career so it's easy to consider 2014 an outlier. Due to his poor year, he could have a ton of value as a bounce back candidate entering 2015. Last year he had a 4.81 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP but did save 35 games - 13th most saves in all of baseball. His ERA and WHIP were the highest among Closers with 13 or more saves. Joe also saw his average fastball velocity drop to 91.6 mph which set a new career low. All of those numbers could be signs of the beginning of the end.

wxyz.com

The Tigers traded for Joakim Soria last year and were rumored to be in the running for Jonathan Papelbon. I think Nathan will start the year as the Tiger's Closer but any early slip up will earn him a demotion.

Feliz really is an unknown entering 2015. He was coming off Tommy John surgery last year but was able to pitch on back-to-back days a few times and touched the upper 90's with his heater. Neftali was the team's Closer back in 2010 and 2011 but gave it up to become a Starting Pitcher which eventually led to aforementioned Tommy John surgery. Don't be fooled by last year's numbers they were built on a small amount of innings; but, one statistic is valuable to know - he allowed five home runs in just 31.2 innings. I don't like my Closers being homer-prone so I may look elsewhere for saves.

Gregerson is the favorite to take over 9th inning duties in Houston since the club signed him to a three-year deal worth $18.5 million in December. Gregerson has had an up-and-down past few years but could end up being a great sleeper pick in drafts this year.